Career Insights from Kerstin Schuetz
Kerstin Schuetz, PhD MBA GAICD
Commercial Facilitator for the Entrepreneurs Programme and Director at Strandnberg Consulting
You never quite know where life might take you and it’s rarely a linear journey…
Kerstin’s career started as a researcher with a PhD in Biophysics, focussed on plant nutrition. The research skills however could easily be applied in medical research. After funding her own trip to the US for a Biophysics conference while completing her PhD, Kerstin made this switch because she felt this would allow her to have a significant impact on society and lead to a career with the purpose to apply science. She accepted a post-doctoral position at Northwestern University in Chicago, researching the flu virus. This ultimately led to her working at Pfizer in the US and eventually returning to Adelaide and accepting a leadership role at Bionomics, a biotech company.
Life and career paths are not necessarily linear, particularly for women. Kerstin decided to return to plants and studied viticulture and managed her own 16-acre vineyard in McLaren Vale for 6 years while raising her three sons - 3 boys under 4 was possibly her greatest but most fulfilling challenge! She also completed her MBA at Melbourne business school at this time. Ultimately, she has returned to a career focussed on technology commercialisation, which over the past 12 years has included starting her own consulting company, working with global Pharma, University technology transfer, the prestigious Federal Government’s Accelerating Commercialisation Entrepreneurs Programme and CEO positions in biotech. Her broad background and love for challenges and continuous learning has meant that she has been able to directly impact many different products and paths to market. Kerstin said “what gets me out of bed in the morning is knowing I have made a difference and touched something that will be of use to society. That is the most rewarding part of my career. Working with the right intention always pays off”.